Changes
by artemis-nz
Summary: Everything has changed. Except maybe for a few things. Joker/Wendy, vague Yomiko/Wendy.


She had heard somewhere that women very often got their hair cut just after breaking up a relationship. Wendy thought there was some irony in that as she met her own eyes in the mirror.

The hair-dresser was warm and chatty; Wendy found that all it took was to smile and nod at regular intervals, and did not have to say much at all. She relaxed slightly, wondering why she had been nervous before the appointment. She had of course been to a hair-dressers before - many times, even, when she had been a child - but she had not been in many years now. She could not remember even one time she had been to a salon after becoming part of the British Library staff. Yomiko had always cut her hair for her then, whenever it had gotten too unmanageable. Not often though; only when Mr. Joker made some comment or other, whenever her hair had grown too long or too scruffy - and then Wendy had scrambled to please him, make him proud. He was a man who she wanted to make proud. She imagined Yomiko's hands tangled in her hair only briefly before making herself listen to the hair-dresser's chatter, mentally chiding herself for being indulgent. Now of all times, she could not afford the luxury of remembering times that seemed, in all the bustling streets, eons away.

The soft _snip snip_ of the scissors was something to concentrate on as Wendy watched long strands of hair fall to the ground with an intense fascination, both sickened and drawn to the sight. That something she had had for years could be gone so quickly, with no effort on her part, was something she had never considered. She wondered if she might be called shallow, now that something so little as hair could be so significant. _Snip snip._

The job was over almost before Wendy had realized it. She thanked the hairdresser automatically, paid at the counter and walked stiffly to her car. Only when she had sat in the front seat and, for whatever reason, locked all the doors, did she run a hand through her hair. She turned on the car-light and looked in the rear-view mirror at the blonde locks which looked so much... well, neater. Shorter, obviously, but there was more to it than that. She twisted and turned to get a better look. Was her hair perhaps straighter? Tangle-free, that was for certain. She looked different... she _felt_ different.

Wendy turned the key in the ignition and switched the heater on full-blast. Behind her, she saw the same hair-dresser that had cut her hair drag the 'Open' sign inside. She had been the last customer. As she drove the car out of sight of the shops, she decided she would buy some new clothes the next day.

Wendy tried not to wonder about Joker's reaction to her change of appearance as she drove to work on Monday. She also failed miserably. Would he notice? Would he say anything directly to her, or perhaps just make some passing comment? Would people stare and wonder if they had just seen Wendy walk past, or just a Wendy look-alike? She had told nobody of her decision to cut her hair, although the move had not been an entirely impulsive one. She realized she was nervous as she entered the building, and marvelled that everything was exactly the same as it had been the week before. Perhaps she had expected everything to somehow change, to reflect her own difference in the way she now perceived things. But even her office was just the same, stacks of papers and pens scattered about, a computer and printer, a pot-plant which was dying because she had kept forgetting to water it. And then from along the corridor she heard a familiar voice, and Wendy hurriedly switched on the computer and sat in her chair, twisting a pen between her fingers as she waited.

"Wendy, did you get the report I left for you on-"

He stopped mid-sentence as she looked up. He had never stopped mid-sentence before. Irrationally, Wendy was proud that she of all people had managed to make him do it.

"Yes, sir, it's taken care of", she replied carefully, not quite meeting his eyes. Now she was nervous again, and hoped he wouldn't tease her like he used to.

"Wendy."

"Yes, sir."

"... You're doing a fantastic job. I don't know how I would get everything done without you."

"Thank you, sir." She kept her voice neutral, although if she had been the same person as she had been a year ago, she knew she would not have sounded so calm. Things _had_ changed, and yet somehow, despite being unused to everything as it now stood, Wendy felt a glow inside that she had not felt since-

"Things have changed, haven't they Wendy?"

He had perhaps seen the expression on her face (and she noted quickly that she would need to work on that too). But his voice was not sad, or angry. Just calm, and almost approving.

"Yes, sir."

"But for the better, I think. Life goes on. Our great work goes on."

"Yes, sir", she replied, and could not keep the gladness from her voice, nor the slight flush of pleasure from her face.

"Now, about that report..."

Joker was all business as usual; perhaps not quite everything had changed. Wendy listened attentively, noting everything in her mind and prioritizing it, ordering her day. First the report, then finishing the letter she had been drafting on Saturday, and after that a small lunch break-

"- which should be on my desk by the end of the day if you can manage that", Joker finished.

"Of course, sir."

"Excellent. Thank you, Wendy." He began to walk out, but stopped to turn back before he reached the door. "Oh, and Wendy?"

"Sir?"

He smiled. "Fetch us some tea, would you?"

She smiled back, for the first time feeling comfortable with the slight glaze of lipstick she had applied before leaving for work. "Right away, sir." She was glad that not quite everything had changed after all.


End file.
